The teaching is simple: act with kindness and compassion. If you cannot do this, at least try not to harm others.

Study the Buddha's teaching which is present in every moment.

Ethical conduct is not a constraint upon our freedom but a condition of our freedom.

The nature of all things is like a magical illusion, a mirage, a dream, a reflection of the moon in water.

Let none find fault with others; let none see the omissions and commissions of others. But let one see one's own acts, done and undone.

Liberation is found in the practice, not in the theory.

Meditation in the midst of activity is a thousand times superior to meditation in stillness.

The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.

Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.

Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: you won't be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.

In the monastery of your body, the monk of your mind must stay in retreat.

Those who know emptiness, know impermanence. Those who know impermanence, know non-self. Those who know non-self, know peace.

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.

The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with.

The mind of the past is ungraspable; the mind of the future is ungraspable; the mind of the present is ungraspable.

The art of living... is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.

Don't think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking.

The dharma is not about collecting more beliefs but about becoming free from the power of belief itself.

Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.

Peace in oneself, peace in the world.

A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.

Just as the great ocean has one taste, the taste of salt, so also this teaching and discipline has one taste, the taste of liberation.

One moment can change a day, one day can change a life, and one life can change the world.

Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.

What Zen wants us to do is to acquire an entirely new point of view whereby to look into the mysteries of life and the secrets of nature.

Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile.

The mind is like water. When it's turbulent, it's difficult to see. When it's calm, everything becomes clear.

Concentration develops naturally through continuous noting. Don't try to force concentration to arise.

Mindfulness is the quality and power of mind that is aware of what's happening—without judgment and without interference.

The law of nature is the law of cause and effect. As you sow, so shall you reap.

You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.

Awareness is the basis, or what you might call the "support," of the mind. It is steady and unchanging, like the pole to which the flag of ordinary consciousness is attached.

Every intelligent individual wants to know what makes him tick, and yet is at once fascinated and frustrated by the fact that oneself is the most difficult of all things to know.